


Silence

by ReneeoftheStars



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Betrayal, Order 66, The Clone Wars - Freeform, War, death description, death mention, warfare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-18 00:31:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16984740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReneeoftheStars/pseuds/ReneeoftheStars
Summary: For Jedi Castin Mazzi, the demands of The Clone War has taken its toll. Struggling with the repercussions, she wants nothing more than to be given guidance to navigate her internal conflict. But when she tries to establish communications when the situation grows dire, there is only silence.





	Silence

**Author's Note:**

> Written for tumblr blog celebrate-the-clone-wars writing Wednesday prompt: Radio Silence

Something is very, _very_ wrong. 

“General Mazzi?” Captain Teeg is standing there, watching her. His red-marked helmet is tucked under his arm, shaved head reflecting the blue light of the holomap spread before them. “Are you alright?”

He must have seen her steady herself on the projector. Castin grinds her teeth together, to ward off the pain. “I'm fine, Captain. Please, continue.”

He raises an eyebrow at the mottled-orange-skinned Theelin in disbelief, but resumes his explanation of their attack plan to the rest of the assembled troops. The squad leaders stand at attention, absorbing the strategy, but Castin can't focus. Her head is throbbing, her chest tight. Somewhere, something is happening that sets her nerves on edge.

She can practically hear screams through the Force.

It's been going on for the last three hours, and it hasn't let up. But what in the galaxy could cause this much of a disturbance?

Castin steps next to the comm officer. “Transmissions?”

He shakes his head. “Sorry, sir. In this quadrant, we can't receive or send anything in hyperspace. Too much interference. Should be clear when we return to realspace.”

She lets out a frustrated breath and straightens. Being out of communication at this stage in the war makes her nervous. When they can't receive instructions or relay information, the entire campaign in the Outer Rim turns tedious; communication dead zones have contributed to countless losses.

Unable to tolerate it a moment longer, she makes for the door, the servos in her legs whirling. Catching Teeg's eye, she taps three fingers to her ear.  _Call me when we've arrived._ He gives a curt nod and continues briefing the men. 

She steps heavily out of the bridge, metallic hooves clanking against the floor as she heads towards – well, she doesn't have a destination in mind. Approaching Eriadu to rendezvous with Master Ko-nu's forces before continuing to Bith, there's no point in her wandering too far from the bridge. They'll be dropping out of hyperspace any time now.

Clone troopers salute her as they pass, set to their tasks. They try so hard to differentiate themselves from one another – they change their hair, armor paint, names, tattoos, to try to be recognized. At the start of the war, she took pains to remember all of their names. Now, almost all the ones she'd known are dead, replaced by fresh-faced “shinies”. No matter what she does, more and more die with each campaign.

Castin is ashamed that she doesn't have the emotional energy to spare to bond with them. So they've all become a repeating face behind a visor. Except for the ones she interacts with regularly, they've become little more than droids. She grimaces at the thought.

A phantom pain shoots up through her core and Castin winces. The medical droids insist she has no lasting damage to her internal organs, and that any physical pain she feels is just the fried nerve endings in her torso attempting to recover sensation in her legs. But ever since the Battle of Rattatak, since the ambush... since Juka...

Sorrow wells up in her again and she forces it down. No. No, she needs to let the sorrow  _go_ , not force it down. But it's so hard, and it gets harder with every week this war drags on.

Maybe she can seek counsel before they arrive at Bith. Castin briefly touches her comlink. There will be an hour window once they drop out of hyperspace at Eriadu before they depart again. Hopefully there will be someone available; the disturbance in the Force has only grown, and it's making her feel sick.

As she enters the mess hall, the nearby clones salute and recognize her.

“General.”

Force, how she hates that title. She isn't military, she doesn't know what she was doing. She is a Jedi, a keeper of  _peace,_ not a leader of  _war._ She should never have been placed in charge of these men – look how many troops she's gotten killed, look how many civilians she hasn't saved. Her heart rises in her throat.  _Look at my Padawan's remains._

Poor Juka. The young Kiffar had been so excited to go to battle. At the start of the war, he had bought into the pomp and circumstance, had argued with her incessantly about how the Jedi needed to take the reigns and end the war by any means. He was humming with energy at the end of every skirmish and battle.

Castin had failed him in every way. She sees that now. Unable to help Juka understand the role of the Jedi in the war as the Council instructed, she had let him take unnecessary risks, had let troops under his command suffer casualties. As the demands of the war grew, she had forsaken meditation exercises in favor of tactical strategy she herself barely understood, and lessons of the Force were completely abandoned.

And at Rattatak, she had acted too rashly, hadn't anticipated such a swift counterstrike. The ambush had taken them all by surprise, and they hadn't been able to regroup. She doesn't know exactly what happened, and that's the thought that gnaws away at her. All she remembers is noise and flashes of light and fear,  _so much fear_ –

When she awoke on a Republic ship, they told her that her Padawan was dead. The gunship troops had only been able to find the molten remains of his lightsaber. They told her that when they landed, they found Castin wide-eyed and screaming, half blown to bits. Castin doesn't remember any of it.

She thinks that's for the best.

Castin has given so much to this war already.  _What will remain of me once it's all over?_

She's been pushing around the food on her plate for half an hour when her comlink chimes. “We're coming up on Eriadu,” Captain Teeg informs her, just as a tone sounds throughout the ship. She braces herself as the ship slows and drops out of hyperspace.

“I'll be there shortly,” she responds, though she only faintly hears herself; she's still too wrapped up in her thoughts. 

She rises and walks from the mess hall, barely nodding to her troops as they salute. Making her way back to the bridge, she piggybacks off the cruiser's communications array and inputs the receiver code for Master Shaak Ti. Now that they've returned to realspace, she should be able to establish communication. The Togrutan Master radiates calm and serenity, and with all the dark thoughts swirling in her head and the disturbances quaking through the Force, Castin could use her guidance.

She waits.

Silence.

She waits a moment more, then checks the connection, thinking there may be a disruption in this sector after all. The signal shows clear.

She reconnects.

Silence.

Castin frowns, but tries to shrug it off. Perhaps Master Ti is otherwise occupied. She keys in the code for the Temple's communication center. There's always two Jedi stationed at the center to receive and advise incoming transmissions –

Silence.

No, no, that's not right. There's  _always_ someone there to answer. 

Castin is about to try reconnecting when her comlink emits an unfamiliar noise. A series of tones issues from the device, and Castin's brow furrows as she tries to place it. It's...yes, it's the same alert that was sent out at the start of the war – the recall signal.

Just as she's puzzling out what it could mean, a familiar recorded voice emits from the speaker.

“This is Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. The war is over. I repeat, the war is over.”

Castin's heart stops. Tears spring into her eyes.

“All Jedi are ordered to return to the Jedi Temple immediately. You will receive further instructions when you arrive.”

_Over, over, the war is over._ Castin clamps a hand to her mouth to stop the sobs that threaten to start and never stop.  _It's done, it's over. Thank the Force, it's over._

Spurred by the sudden lightness in her chest, Castin races to the bridge, her metal prosthetics hitting the floor with a clear ringing tone. As she skids to a stop at the doors and activates them, a thought crosses her mind.

_If the war is over, why is there such a disturbance in the Force? What's wrong?_

The doors slide open and Castin sees Captain Teeg and the troops still gathered around the holoprojector, but now there is no map splayed before them. Instead, the flickering image of a hooded figure has just finished speaking. Castin doesn't recognize them. She steps onto the deck. Outside the viewport, another Republic cruiser hovers just out of Eriadu's orbit.

“It will be done, my lord,” Captain Teeg is saying, his expression tight.

The image winks out, leaving the clones staring at one another across the holoprojector.

“Captain!” Castin calls.

Every clone on the bridge turns and stares at her.

“I've just received word from the Chancellor.”

“So have we,” Captain Teeg responds. He puts on his helmet. The others are doing the same.

Castin stops walking. Something...something's wrong. “The war is over.”

“Nearly.”

Is something wrong  _here?_ Or...or elsewhere? Through the Force, thousands are screaming – 

A blaster bolt catches her in the shoulder, knocking her back. Castin cries out in pain, eyes flying wide as she registers Captain Teeg's blaster trained on her. A second bolt follows almost instantly, but she throws herself to the side, behind a computer terminal. It explodes in a shower of sparks.

“CAPTAIN TEEG!” Castin screams. “STAND DOWN! THAT'S AN ORDER!”

“Good soldiers follow orders,” she hears him mumble.

No, not just him, but the ones around him too.

For a moment, she sees it in slow motion. All of the clones on the bridge, their blasters aimed at her, helmets obscuring their faces.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” she shrieks.

They don't answer; instead, they rain blaster bolts down on her.

She barely knows what she's doing. Instinct – or maybe the Force – takes over. Her lightsaber is in her hand, deflecting the bolts haphazardly at the walls, at the computers, at the clones. The clones are spreading out, trying to surround her, and she rushes to the door, slashing through a trooper that tries to cut her off. He tumbles to the ground and she sprints into the corridor, past hallway after hallway, and they follow, ignoring her cries to stop, firing and firing and trying to kill her.

Her blood runs cold.  _They're trying to kill me._

But why? Why, why now, when the war is won, when this can all finally be over?

Castin nearly bowls over a battle-ready pair of clones that step out of the mess hall, managing at the last second to deactivate her lightsaber to avoid impaling them. 

“The Captain and deck crew are – trying to kill me,” she gasps. “Help me –”

“Jedi scum,” one of them snarls. Their blasters come up.

She doesn't think. Castin's blade springs to life and cleaves the trooper and his companion in half.

But by then the rest of the clones in the mess are standing, yelling, shooting at her.

_It's revenge,_ she decides as she sprints away.  _Revenge for all the clones I led to death._

Tears are streaming down her face. When did she start crying? She doesn't know, and she doesn't know where she's going. Her shoulder is burning. More and more troops pour out of corridors and barracks, they're splitting up, trying to cut her off. They know the cruiser as well as she does, and there are so many of them. There's nowhere she can hide.

They will corner her.

They will kill her.

Lightsaber spinning madly in one hand as she runs, she keys in the comm of the Jedi on the other ship. Her hands are shaking. “Master Ko-nu! Master Ko-nu, do you copy? This is Castin Mazzi!”

Silence.

“Master Ko-nu, please respond! My troops have turned on me, I need help!”

Silence.

An awful thought begins to form, but Castin throws it aside.  _No, it's not possible. All the clones wouldn't turn on the Jedi, it couldn't happen_ . 

And then a worse thought:  _But what if it could?_

_We wouldn't stand a chance._

She finds herself in the maze of intersecting corridors in the heart of the ship. She glimpses armored troops racing at her from three sides. Sprinting up the fourth hall, she brings her lightsaber down and slashes through the control panel. The door slides shut and locks behind her. She hears angry shouting as troopers on the other side work to pry it open. She sprints down the corridor, slashing control panels as she goes, putting as many barriers between her and death as possible.

She staggers to a stop and deactivates the lightsaber, leaving herself in silence.

Alone.

She has to get off this ship. If all the clones have turned against her, there's no where she can hide. If she can get to her starfighter, and make it to the planet...

But they'll send fighters after her. And if she makes it planetside, then what? Hide? Wait for rescue? No one at the Temple answered her transmission. And if all the clones really have turned on the Jedi Order...

Castin pulls out her comlink again. When did she pocket it? She doesn't remember. She thumbs it on, opening it to all frequencies.

“Emergency code nine thriteen.” Her voice trembles. “This is Jedi Knight Castin Mazzi. The clone troopers of the Three-Hundred Eighth Battalion have turned on me. Requesting immediate assistance.”

Silence.

“This is Castin Mazzi of the Jedi Order. If anyone can hear me, please respond.”

Silence.

“Please...please help me.”

Her whisper falls into the vacuum of space.

A jet of blue light streaks towards her and hits her other shoulder. Castin jerks around with the impact, trying to bring her lightsaber around to deflect –

Another bolt strikes her forearm, another her gut, and two more the servos in her legs.

Castin gives a strangled cry and crumples, her head striking the bulkhead, lightsaber clattering from her grip. When her vision clears, she sees Captain Teeg bearing down on her. Other troopers follow behind him. All their blasters are leveled at her.

Castin stares up at Teeg's helmet, hoping to see through to the face behind it. But she can only see her own reflection in the visor.

He's a few feet from her. She knows she should fight back, she should call on the Force, summon her lightsaber to her. She shouldn't allow herself to just die.

The blaster wounds scorch, her phantom pains shoot through her, the Force is screaming...

She's so tired.

_Oh, Juka. We were so close to the end._

Castin closes her eyes.

The blaster fires.

Silence _._

 


End file.
